Ian McKellen, Royal Shakespeare Company vet, wise sorcerer, magnetic supervillain and handsome elderly gentleman about town, is currently starring in a touring production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in Australia, which just opened in Melbourne over the weekend, but made its first dollar during rehearsals. The Telegraph reports that during a recent break from rehearsal, while sitting on the sidewalk outside the Comedy Theater in downtown Melbourne, McKellen, in his disheveled Estragon costume (pictured) with his bowler hat at his feet, was given one Australian dollar (approx. US$.90) by a generous passerby.

That person should probably fess up to their cultural myopia, come forward, and claim some kind of tax deduction for this charitable donation. McKellen told the Telegraph: “I hope the Melbourne audiences will be as generous.” Aw… (CultureMonster, photo: Sasha Gusov)